Integration of Ecodesign and Sustainability Assessment in the Circular Economy of Plastics

Autor: Venkatachalam Venkateshwaran

ISBN: 978-3-69030-027-8

Dissertation, Leibniz Universität Hannover, 2025

Herausgeber der Reihe: Hans-Josef Endres 

Band-Nr.: IKK 01/2025

Umfang: 278 Seiten, 8 Abbildungen

Schlagworte: Ecodesign, Recycling, Life Cycle Assessment, Circular Economy, Plastics

Kurzfassung: Plastics represent a versatile group of materials that have found applications in almost every sector known to humankind. Despite the exponential increase in the production of plastics in the last century, the recovery and disposal of plastic waste remains a significant global challenge. Despite the claims that the products manufactured from plastics are ‘recyclable’, only a small percentage of them are recovered and recycled to be (re-)used in the same applications.

In addition to establishing an adequate and functioning recovery and recycling infrastructure, the plastic sector must first identify the impacts of plastic products across the value chain from the sustainability point of view. Once the impacts have been identified, the stakeholders must determine strategies to enhance plastic products’ recoverability and recyclability after use. Ecodesign is an approach wherein aspects that influence the product recyclability and resource efficiency are considered as early as during the design and planning phase. Ecodesign strategies, in combination with sustainability assessment, can help identify the critical aspects contributing to plastic waste recovery.

This PhD thesis aims to develop methodological approaches to quantify the environmental performance of the various end-of-life options for plastic waste, including using plastic recyclates in production, and integrate them with other ecodesign strategies to improve the recovery of plastic waste after use. From the PhD thesis, it was found that the majority of modelling approaches in the sustainability assessment consider wastes as a distinct entity rather than as a component of the value chain. Furthermore, this thesis addresses who bears the responsibility for the environmental burdens associated with the treatment and disposal of plastic waste.

This cumulative thesis comprises four publications, each of which proposes a new methodological approach to integrate ecodesign and sustainability assessment for the recovery of plastics. When implemented by the stakeholders across the plastic value chain, the methodological frameworks developed in this PhD thesis can support their efforts in recovering plastic wastes, utilizing recyclates in their production, establishing circular business models, and preventing the loss of plastic resources to the environment.